Click here for a copy of this report in Word for Windows format

September 4

STONES reserve D Cruz, activate D Mientkiewicz.

STONES activate D Bell.

DOORMATTS reserve J Cruz, activate B Hawpe.

DOORMATTS reserve D Jackson, activate C Barmes.

DEM REBELS reserve R Cormier, activate B Backe.

September 6

STONES reserve J Repko, activate R Freel.

September 10

COPPERFIELDS reserve D Cook, activate S Eyre.

COPPERFIELDS sign Ra Ortiz (.09), reserve C Capuano, release P Nevin.

RESERVOIR DOGS reserve A LaRoche, activate R Durham.

RESERVOIR DOGS reserve S Dohman, activate J Marquis.

KENNDOZA LINE reserve C Freeman, activate R Fick.

HOT SLUDGE SUNDAE claim G Rusch on waivers, reserve S Trachsel, waive J Fogg.

HOT SLUDGE SUNDAE reserve D Eveland, activate J Broxton.

SPLENDID SPLINTERS reserve R Zimmerman, activate B Bonds.

SPLENDID SPLINTERS reserve L Hudson, activate B Kim.

SPLENDID SPLINTERS sign G Bennett (.05), waive M Olivo.

SPLENDID SPLINTERS sign J Vizcaino (.05), reserve him, waive R Zimmerman.

SPLENDID SPLINTERS sign J Macias (.05), reserve him, waive C Tsao.

DA PAUL MEISTERS reserve C Woodward, activate L Bigbe.

Click here for updated rosters in Excel format.
Click here for the 2006 Rotation Draft Pick Tracker

Free Agent Bids and Waiver Claims

Excellent Opportunity for Cub Fans

I read this suggestion in Al Yellon's excellent daily diary about the Cubs, Bleed Cubbie Blue.  

In writing about the pending demise of the Cardinals' Busch Stadium, Yellon discusses the Cubs' feeble 140-190 record there (141-190 after Wednesday's win), and points out that the Cardinals are holding a raffle to determine who gets to push the button that will bring the whole thing crashing down -- a raffle that is open to anyone who lives in Missouri or Illinois.  As Yellon writes:  "I can just imagine the look on the Cardinals' officials' faces if a Cub fan won this and showed up in full Cubs garb."

You do need to make a $10 donation to the United Way in order to enter, but isn't this a much worthier cause than getting the chance to blow up (or eat, for God's sake) the Bartman Ball?

Click here to enter:

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stl/fan_forum/raffle.jsp

Rule Suggestions

It's never too early to start thinking about the future, and in this case, about future rule changes we may want to entertain.  Over the course of the year, I've been contacted by owners who have had suggestions, questions, or complaints about rules and related topics.  The following are some of the topics that have come up during the season and which we may want to consider discussing.  I hope to start a Forum thread about each of these when I get the chance (though if someone else wants to start the ball rolling, go right ahead...):

Report Stats – This one is based on an e-mail conversation with Kenn.  When I set up the league at TQS each spring, I'm given the opportunity to select which stats appear in the print and web reports.  The scoring categories are no-brainers, but I also include other things such as AB, H, and BB.  This usually is fine if you're just perusing what's happened so far, but if you're trying to do calculations involving OBP (to evaluate the impact of possible trades or to update stats real-time during a pennant race), things can get hairy.  In addition to AB, H, and BB, the formula for OBP also includes HBP and SF, and there's not enough room to fit those on the report.  

One possible solution would be to replace AB with Plate Appearances and H or BB with Times on Base (H+BB+HBP).  This would look a bit odd and take some getting used to, but it makes more sense given our categories and make quick calculations a lot easier.  A possible stumbling block, though, is that Times on Base is not one of TQS's standard categories and I don't know if they'd charge us for Premium Service (an additional $50) to set it up.  I can look into it if there's interest, though.

September Free Agent Signings – This one is courtesy of The Professor, Dave Holian.  Our current rules state that any free agent signed after September 1 will receive a B contract.  This, of course, is to prevent teams from restocking their Reserve Lists with blue chip prospects who are called to the majors for September Roster Expansion.  Is there a reason to put this restriction on players who were not called up for September Roster Expansion, though?  Examples this year would be Pat Maholm and Ben Johnson -- players who were called up during the last week in August.  They hadn't been in the majors in time for us to bid on them during the last transaction date in August (Aug 26), but they were in the majors before Sept. 1.   Since they weren't part of the major league's September Expansion, should they (and the dozens of other players who were in the Free Agent Pool pre-Sept. 1) be assigned a B contract if acquired in September?

One possible approach would be for me to save a copy of the TQS Free Agent listing on August 31.  Any player who is on that list and is subsequently acquired via a free agent bid could be given the usual D contract instead of a B.  There may be potential drawbacks to this, but it's something worth kicking around.

Mid-Week Moves – There were a few challenges of the mid-week transaction rule this year; cases where people wanted to activate a player because he had been listed in the Projected Starters listing for the day (but without a report of the player being recalled from the minors) or wanted to reserve a player scheduled to undergo surgery (but whose placement on the DL hadn't been reported yet).

Those discussions led to the long article in the May 28 report, where I went over the mid-week rule in excruciating detail.  At that time there were also a number of suggestions for revisions to the rule to allow a little more flexibility when it comes to mid-week moves, including leaving it up to the League Secretary whether a move is permissible and allowing some kind of "conditional" move that would be put through it the player were actually involved in a reported MLB transaction that day.

The rule we've currently got is nice in that it provides a black-and-white standard for determining whether or not a move is allowed, but we can certainly explore other possibilities.

Hometown Discount Watch

In 2006, the teams that finished in 5^th-12^th place in 2005 will receive a budget of up to .06 to use toward reacquiring players who had played out their option with the team (B-contract players). The exact amount each team receives will be based on how far behind the 5^th place team they are at the end of the year, in terms of a percentage of the 5^th place team's point total.